Reeves Callaway Passes Away at 75

Reeves Callaway, the founder of the Callaway Cars company that found success racing Chevrolet Corvettes in GT3 competition, has passed away at the age of 75 from injuries sustained following a fall at his home in Newport Beach, Calif.

After a brief racing career, Callaway founded his company in 1977 and worked on cars from various manufacturers before starting a relationship with Corvette in 1987.

The company’s racing division, named Callaway Competition, was established in 1994 through a partnership with Ernst Woehr and Giovanni Ciccone and competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the late 1990s.

With authorization from General Motors, Callaway Competition built and homologated GT3 versions of both the C6- and C7-generation Corvette for international competition.

Daniel Keilwitz and Christian Hohenadel took a Callaway-built Corvette Z06.R GT3 to the FIA GT3 Championship crown in 2010.

In ADAC GT Masters, the team secured 35 race victories and won the title in 2017 with a Corvette C7 GT3-R co-driven by Jules Gounon.

While Callaway Competition’s GT Masters program was put on hold last year, the car was raced in both GT America powered by AWS and Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS earlier this year.

“Thanks to Reeves’ visionary entrepreneurial spirit, Callaway Cars will continue to innovate and grow in the 21st century, inspired by his unique, extraordinary vision, and by his personal example of integrity, resourcefulness, and leadership as our founder,” said his son Peter Callaway, current Callaway Cars President.

“Dad’s passion for making beautifully designed and crafted machines can be seen in each and every project, and we remain devoted to executing to the highest standards, in true Callaway fashion.

“He was rarely found doing anything other than working towards the next milestone for the company.

“He was a charismatic leader with a sense of humor that we will all remember through various ‘Reeves-isms.’

“I feel fortunate to have grown up working with him and the company.”